Stingrays. What do you think when somebody says the word stingray? Do you think of a really vicious sea creature that stings you to death? Or do you think of a flat harmless sea creature that has a stinger that they can use when they suddenly turn against you? Well Stingrays are related to the shark family but otherwise these creatures can be harmless.
Stingrays are flat sea creatures with a long tail and a barb on the end of it. Usually there can be more than one barb on the tail, which the stingrays use for self defence. The stingrays eyes are on the top of it’s head and the nostril and mouth on the bottom. Although their eyes are on the top of their heads, they don’t use their eyes to hunt down and find their food. They use their sense of smell all the time. Stingrays smell for their food and they eat snails, shrimp, clams, small fish and other small creatures around the ocean.
Stingrays do NOT sting unless you stand on them. So if you ever stand on a stingray you better run! A stingray can live up to 15-25 years of age and 16.5 feet which is 5 metres long and can weigh up to 1,320 pounds which is 600KG! Did you know that stingrays don’t have bones but their skeleton is made out of cartilage, a flexible firm kind of tissue that is white, just like their relative, the shark.
The stingray swims almost like a bird, sometimes it flaps its side using them like wings which makes them glide through the water. Or sometimes they move in a swaying kind of ways which allows them to push their way through the water. Stingrays can be useful as well, their rough, tough skin can be used to make shoes, wallets, boots, belts and more. In Japan they use the skin to make an underlayer for their Japanese swords, which is perfect because it holds the sword in place so it doesn’t slip away. In other parts of the world such as Malaysia and Singapore, they eat stingray. They grill it and mix it with special sauces.
Are stingrays harmless l? Or are they just another type of sea creature that gets misjudged? I think that they are perfectly good sea creatures, just don’t step on them!
By: Kaydence
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Amazing work Kaydence! I love your report on Stingrays. I can not wait to see more of your great posts! Keep up the GREAT work :)
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